WHAT IS VITILIGO?

Updated on April 10, 2009

Vitilogo a Disease you should Note.

A lady named Maria speaks humorously of her skin condition, she says with a smile, “I was born black, became white, and now I’m just confused.” She was vitiligo. Vitiligo, also called leukoderma, is triggered by the loss of pigment-producing cells in the skin. The results in the formation of white spots and patches on the skin. With some patients the condition never progresses spreads over the body quickly. Still others may suffer a slower form of vitiligo that continues to spread over years. Vitiligo is neither physically painful nor contagious. Not all cases of vitiligo may be as obvious as Maria’s because it is most noticeable on dark-skinned people. But there are many people afflicted to one degree or another. Statistics show that between 1 and 2 percent of the population is affected. Vitiligo knows no racial boundaries and affects men and women equality. Its causes is still unknown. While there is no sure cure for vitiligo, there are many ways of dealing with it. For instance, in light-skinned patients, the condition is more evident when the unaffected skin is suntanned. Hence, avoiding exposure to the sun can make the condition less noticeable. With darker-skinned people, special cosmetics can help disguise the contrasts in skin color. Some patients have responded well to a process known as repigmentation .This treatment involves many months of medication and the use of special ultraviolet equipment. In some cases this treatment has caused normal color to return to parts of the afflicted skin. Other patients choose depigmentation. The goal of this treatment is to even out the skin tone by destroying the remaining pigment-producing cells with the use of medication. Vitiligo can cause emotional distress to those afflicted especially when it spreads to the face. “Recently,” explains Maria, two children looked at me and ran away screaming, others are hesitant to speak with me, thinking that I may have a contagious disease or that I may have been cursed. If I could get one point across to others, it would be that they do not have to be afraid of people with this condition. They cannot catch vitiligo by touching or through the air. So she does not allow he condition to deter from the hope that God’s kingdom is the solution to all man kind problems.